Google Advanced Verification & Home Services Ads – An Update

The top contributors met with Google and we were educated as to the changes that are taking place in both the Advanced Verification programs and the Home Service Ads program.

Both are evolving from the model rolled out in San Diego which required all local listings to be advanced verified.

One big change is that only businesses that will advertise will be required to go through the advanced verification process that involves independent background checks.

The other is that service area business listings in markets where the test is now arriving, will be pulled from any 3-Pack display and only shown in the new HSA finder.

Here are notes of the meeting:

What’s happening?

The Advanced Verification pilot in San Diego and Los Angeles is changing for Google My Business service area merchants and expanding to new geos and categories for AdWords and AdWords Express customers.

The Home Services pilot in San Diego and Los Angeles that includes both paying and non-paying service professionals is expanding to new categories and cities.

From Google’s point of view:

Advanced verification helps reduce fraudulent listings on Google and ensures that local listings and local ads are relevant and legitimate.

Home Services – tailored for service area businesses – makes it easy for consumers to discover, connect and hire local service professionals directly from Google, and connects local professionals with new customers when they need them the most.

Key takeaways from Tests of both programs:

Independent verifications has been successful at identifying bad actors.

In addition, all AdWords and AdWords Express customers promoting locksmith services across the whole of California need to pass advanced verification. It is expected this expansion will continue outside of California in the coming months.

Home Services expansion updates per city and category:

New categories have been added to San Diego and Los Angeles:

Los Angeles: HVAC, electricians, overhead door

San Diego: HVAC, electricians, overhead door, towing, autoglass

The pilot experience that includes both paying and non-paying service professionals is being extended to the San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle:

Thanks for keeping us up to date on these significant changes. One thing I have not seen is what the pricing is like for Home Services Ads. What is the structure like and the cost? I assume ppc similar to AdWords? I would also assume it costs more than AdWords? Is that accurate? Thanks!

@Michael
I have heard that in HVAC space, it is a fixed cost of $25 per quote. Google, however, encourages the searcher to ask for 3 quotes so that the effective cost per lead is $75 (assuming all other things being equal and you get 1 of 3).

Thanks Mike and Ashley. That does help. To me it really sounds like Google is tired of companies like HomeAdvisor and Porch making so much money in the home services space by reselling customer leads they generate through Google searches. I do not like the business model of HomeAdvisor or Porch from the perspective I have as owning a small home services business. I think this (Google SAB) could be a win for companies like mine if done well by Google but not sure how they feel about sending fewer clicks to the ads placed by companies like HomeAdvisor. Interesting to see how it plays out. Thanks again.

Thanks for the article, this is helpful, but implementation methods need to be addressed.

We’re extremely concerned about the methods Google is using for the “advanced verification” process. We are a web design and SEO company and we have a customer with an entirely legitimate auto glass business in the San Francisco Bay Area who has never spammed Google Maps, GMB or Google search in any way. Nevertheless, after going through the advanced verification process twice he was denied both times with no explanation and his Adwords account has been repeatedly disabled, apparently for 2-3 days at a time, which is also a mystery.

Google’s Adwords support people have no idea why this customer was turned down and Pinkerton (who apparently is running this process for Google) does not answer their phone, nor do they reply to emails sent to them. This customer continues to try to find out why their application was denied, but after many weeks of trying to contact Pinkerton and every possible contact he can find within Google, he has never received any explanation.

In our opinion it appears that Google is being extremely unfair to small businesses with the way this process is being handled and we have to wonder if the tactics being used by Pinkerton are even legal. This particular customer has been depending on Google Adwords for virtually 100% of their business for the past 3 years and is now at risk of having to close their doors due to the way Google is handling this process, which would result in approximately 10 people losing their jobs.

My father already joined a class action lawsuit against Google and they have more than like 100 Locksmith companies in it that had the same issue with the new Google advance verification program..http://justiceforadvanceverificationvictims.com

I have done an audit of a situation recently where it appears that Advanced Verification catalyzes detailed scrutiny of Adwords accounts owned by the same business.

This med-sized locksmith company AW account I recently reviewed was set up poorly, but not maliciously. I could not find any TOS violations yet it was suspended for “misleading.” No details, no dialogue, no appeal. This was a bricks and mortar, 7-8 van, 2-location, long-term locksmith company with valid licenses.

I was unable to help them – other than to make a few NAP recommendations, get running on other platforms and watch what happens with HSAs.